Λωτός
by fowlbynamedorkbynature
Summary: When Nico lands outside of Percy's apartment, the Son of Hades is brought in. During his brief time there, Percy learns something new about his cousin.


**AN: Here, take this on-shot that nobody needed and/or asked for. Also, there's some Greek near the very end of the chapter. It says "Lotus". Alright, bye.**

 **This has been beta'd by the amazing xx ShamiksXa xx, so go check her out!**

* * *

Percy Jackson had been exhausted by many things throughout the course of his life. Sometimes it was from watching movies all day and well into the night on the couch. Other times, rather, it was because of monster fights, questing, typical demigod stuff. Or more recently, eating so much that he felt bloated and dizzy.

This time, however, he was exhausted because of Wise Girl. Well, technically it was because he had to inquire and study for a test following that morning, but if he was to make it into the same university as her, then he needed to improve his grades. Dam Annabeth for being intelligent- and being a Daughter of Athena.

He smiled at the little inside joke he had made with those friends drastically long ago.

So that is why that Perseus Jackson, the kid that had been kicked out of almost every school he's ever been in, was going over the various US Presidents that long since died at three AM in the gods damned morning. It wasn't even the crack of dawn- dang, dawn was 3 hours away. Exhausted.

He had just made it those who served in the 1800's when there was a crash outside, instantly making him more alert than he had been for hours. He grabbed Riptide before sneaking out his window and looked around to see where the source of the ruckus came from. Beside a dumpster, in the alley, he was standing over, lied one Son of Hades who looked paler than he usually did. Percy quickly jumped down to the ground and gently flipped him so they were facing each other.

"Nico?" There was no response.

Percy carefully picked up Nico and carried him up to his room bride style, feeding him squares of ambrosia, relieved when he didn't melt and disintegrate into the shadows. After sending an Iris message to the infirmary at Camp Half-Blood, he let Nico rest on his bed. Percy moved to the couch in the living room to finish studying but ending up passing out soon after.

* * *

Percy was swinging off the couch waiting for one of his few mortal friends Eli to come back down to the living room so they could continue playing whatever video game the friend had brought over that day.

"Why is there some guy knocked out on your bed?" Eli asked, plopping down next to the Son of Poseidon.

"That's just my cousin. He needed somewhere to crash for a few days."

"He part of that family that you never tell anyone about?"

"Yup," Percy responded, popping the 'p'. He didn't say anything after that and they fell back into the rhythm of playing various video games over the next few hours.

That was interrupted by Eli practically prancing off the couch. It was at that moment he had noticed Nico was lurking in the shadows as he usually did, watching them play. Percy lazily looked back and smiled a bit.

"Eli, meet my cousin Nico. Nico, meet my friend Eli."

"Hello," they both muttered. Eli from feeling awkward, and Nico hesitant around the mortal.

"Wanna play with us, Death Breath?" Nico rolled his eyes but joined them on the couch. He continued watching them play until one of them had died.

"Alright Eli, hand it over." Percy tilted his head back to make the interaction between his two friends easier.

"What?" Eli asked, confused.

"You died, now it's Nico's turn." He faced his cousin and flashed an infamous smirk. "You do want to play, don't you?" He asked gently.

"Oh, uh, sure." He took the controller rather reluctantly from Eli and turned so that faced the screen.

They had only been playing for a couple of minutes when Nico had managed to destroy Percy easily. Eli had chalked it up to beginner's luck but was amazed when it happened again and again, each death quicker than the last, leaving Percy flattened after each game.

"How did you get so good at this? No one's ever beaten Percy before."

He could tell that his cousin was beginning to get uncomfortable with the undivided attention from a practical stranger.

"I … uh … had a lot of free time on my hands when I was younger," he said softly.

" **Λωτός**?" Percy whispered in Greek.

Nico barely nodded, but his eyes dimmed a fair bit.

And so for the rest of the time that Eli was at Percy's house, they tried as many games as they could to see which ones Nico was good at. Percy and Eli usually had to alternate using the same controller. Nico knew all the secrets and glitches so he never died. The two demigods had continued playing well into the night, long after everyone else had fallen asleep. For the first time in a while since the war, they were happy.


End file.
